An Ode To The Vinyl Record (including Dateline: 1973 Part Deux)

Hello, kiddies.

Well, here we are. It will be exactly 130 years ago this Sunday that Thomas Alva Edison uttered those famous words into that crazy contraption: “Mary had a little lamb, it’s fleece was white as snow…” The rest as we all know, is history. When JB first approached me about this blogswarm, I was more than happy to hop on board, seeing as though I am a vinyl junkie of the highest order. I have even been known to give up paying bills or putting food on the table (not to mention getting fired from more than one job in my teenage years for being too good at math, and subsequently selling burgers, fried chicken and other foodstuffs under the table) to obtain a record back in those days… It was then that it occured to me. What in the hell do I talk about. There was a lot of different things that I could elaborate upon when it comes to this obsession of mine, and then it came to me in a flash. I’ve already told the story about my first introduction to records, which can be seen by jumping to this post here. That in turn prompted me to piece together this mix of just a few more of the first records that I ever put my hands on. Suffice it to say I was just a mere lad, less than ten years of age at the time, so the original 45s and LPs have long since been destroyed thanks to being played and subsequently abused. If I only knew then what I know now… famous last words, I know. Oh well, you live, you learn, and then you go the extra lengths to replace said records to preserve that moment in time that should never be erased. With that said, I present “Dateline: 1973 part deux”. This is a loose recreation of the first time that I was allowed to play records by myself, and the WIDE assortment of records that I chose to play (even if they have been replaced with CDs)…

 

01 Floy Joy-The Supremes (Motown). This was originally a 45, owned by my uncle Donny
02 You’re What’s Happening (In The World Today)-Marvin Gaye (Tamla). This was originally a 45, owned by my mother.
 

03 Clean Up Woman-Betty Wright (Alston). This was originally a 45, which I do believe was owned by my uncle Donny.
04 Sugar Daddy-The Jackson Five (Motown). This was originally a 45, the original owner is unknown.
05 Keep On Lovin’ Me Honey-Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (Tamla). This was originally a 45, owned by my uncle Donny.
 

06 I’m In Love (And I Know It)-Martha Reeves & The Vandellas (Gordy). This was originally a 45, the original owner is unknown.
 

07 Puppet Man-The 5th Dimension (Bell). This was originally an LP, owned by my uncle Bernard.
 

08 Brother Rapp pts 1&2-James Brown (King). This was originally a 45, owned by my mother.
09 Don’t Mess With Bill The Marvelettes (Tamla). This was originally a mail order LP. Spme of you may remember the very first Motown box set, featuring 64 of the greatest sides to come out of the Snake Pit. The original owner is unknown.
 

10 Smackwater Jack-Carole King (Ode). My uncle Michael owned the 45 and the LP of this wonderful tune.
11 Mighty Mighty-Earth Wind & Fire (Columbia). This is a bonus track. I remember hearing this tune for the first time at a birthday party, for whom, I don’t remember… There was always at least two copies of “Head to The Sky” in our house though…
 

12 I Gotcha-Joe Tex (Dial). This was originally a 45, the original owner is unknown. I was fortunate enough to obtain a copy of the 45 for my very own from a neighbour who lived up the street…
13 Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing-Stevie Wonder (Tamla). This was originally an LP, owned by my uncle Michael.
14 Too late-Tavares (Capitol). This was originally an LP, owned by my uncle Bernard.
15 Be Yourself-Isaac Hayes (Enterprise). This was originally an LP, owned by my uncle Bernard.
16 Daddy Rich-Rose Royce (MCA). This is another bonus track. The first LP I was ever given as a birthday present back in 1976 was the soundtrack to the film “Car Wash”. Even with the presence of mild profanity, I was still allowed to play this record at a very young age. Probably, for the first time EVER, here is the COMPLETE version without the movie dialogue stuck in the middle, thanks to a bit of computer wizardry (otherwise known as a cut and paste job) on my part…
17 Stink Foot-Frank Zappa (DiscReet). This was originally an LP, owned by my uncle Michael.
 

18 Tempts Jam-The Persuasions (Capitol). This was originally a 45, the original owner is unknown. I  suspect that the original owner was my uncle Michael, since he really loves this acappella group, but I can’t swear to it.
19 Moody’s Mood For Love-Aretha Franklin (Atlantic). This was originally a 45, the original owner is unknown.
20 25 or 6 to 4-Chicago Transit Authority (Columbia). This was originally an LP, owned by my uncle Michael. He owned all of the Chicago albums back then. I think there was about nine of them.

Please download and enjoy Dateline: 1973 Part Deux, an .mp3 file, 64 MB. Obviously enough, these tunes are very easy to come by through various means. If you like them (and don’t already have them), then go out and grab some for yourself. Hopefully you’ll be able to find them on vinyl! I have already found a few as the small amount of label scans show (that is soon to change I assure you), but thanks to the glory of the blogosphere, I have something else to yearn for as the past couple of years has found me collecting rare 45s and LPs like some people collect stamps or baseball cards. Imagine that.

Needless to say I owe all of my early musical education to my family, and I must publically thank them for the fact that they let me keep the records that I would eventually claim for my own anyway, even if I didn’t treat them very well… Now, some thirty or so years later, all of them come to ME for their musical needs. Funny how things come full circle, isn’t it…

As I write this, my Yahoo! messenger is just screaming at me with emails from the rest of the bloggers who are joining in the fun, so let’s all be sure to drop by their respective places and relive their special vinyl moments. I’ve already had the chance to read Homercat’s contribution, as well as Larry’s. Looks like the stories are gonna be really interesting. I will be reading the rest of them once I’m done publishing…

Be sure to drop by the Snack Bar as I will continue paying tribute to this most auspicious occasion by sharing with all of you the very first records I ever bought with my very own money. Those tunes will most certainly be presented in all of their vinyl glory. And speaking of vinyl glory, don’t forget the guest post I did for the Scholar. 100% vinyl for your Vinyl Record Day pleasure…

Thanks once again to J. A. Bartlett for all of his hard work in organising this event, and just like the generic inner sleeves for Columbia records products used to say: And remember… It always happens first on records.

Peace and blessings.